For focused Bengals, drama starts today - on field

Aug. 9, 2012

Written by

Joe Reedy

Bengals vs. Jets

When: Friday at 7:30 p.m., Paul Brown Stadium.

TV: WKRC (Ch. 12), 11:35 p.m.

Radio: WLW-AM (700), WCKY-AM (1530), WEBN-FM (102.7)

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After two weeks of Camp Quiet, things start to liven up a bit for the Bengals when the New York Jets, otherwise known as the team that has garnered the most national headlines so far, visits Paul Brown Stadium to begin the preseason.

With the Bengals hosting Hard Knocks in 2009 and dealing with the storylines of the Terrell Owens signing in 2010 and last year’s task of getting everyone up to speed on a new offense, the fact that there has been a camp devoid of major plots has been welcome news to Marvin Lewis and the rest of the team.

“We are going to play the headline team, so it's good. I think we've had a good focus on what's ahead (this season),” Lewis said. “I think everybody has that sense of purpose about them. Of, you know what, this is what's coming next. And let's get prepared for that as that time comes. They are in a good way, good spots.”

The Bengals were 9-7 and got the final playoff spot in the AFC last season after the Jets lost their final three games to finish 8-8.

The main story nationally will be Tim Tebow’s Jets debut. Earlier this week, head coach Rex Ryan told reporters that Tebow is likely to play two quarters with the second-team offense and that it was doubtful he would see any work with the first unit.

By the time Tebow gets in, a couple of his former teammates from Florida – safety Reggie Nelson and defensive end Carlos Dunlap – are likely to be done for the night. Jets offensive coordinator Tony Sparano told reporters that his offense will be pretty vanilla for the preseason but the Bengals still worked on some Wildcat plays on Wednesday when receiver Mohamed Sanu imitated Tebow.

With all the attention that Tebow has received in New York, Dunlap sees it as similar to when Tebow was at Florida.

Said Dunlap of the attention: “It’s just Tebow. He’s a great guy who does everything the right way. That’s the type guy you need to put on television to represent us.”

Tebow aside, the Jets should provide a good first test for the Bengals. For the offense, Andy Dalton and A.J. Green will face one of the more physical secondaries with cornerbacks Antonio Cromartie and Darrelle Revis. The Jets were fifth in the league last season against the pass.

Green, who has worked on being more aggressive in bump-and-run coverages, should see how much progress he has made when he goes up against Revis.

“This year’s I’m a little more patient with my releases and being physical off the line of scrimmage,” Green said.

For the rest of the offense, it will be its first look this season at a 3-4 defense, which is the same one that division rivals Pittsburgh and Baltimore run.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis makes his Bengals debut against a Jets unit he saw often as he faced them twice a year while with New England. The retooled running game, which also includes the additions of guards Travelle Wharton and Kevin Zeitler, faces a scheme that allowed just 3.9 yards per carry last season.

“It will be a good test of communication and getting the calls out and having guys you haven’t played next to understanding them and do them,” center Kyle Cook said. “It’s always a good test when you can face somebody that’s got a multiple-set defense because obviously in our division we play teams like that.”

Said Dalton about what he wanted the offense to accomplish in tonight’s game: “The biggest thing is we’ve just got to be consistent. That’s what we’re going to be looking for once we go into the game, just consistency and don’t have any stupid penalties or too many mental errors.”

Defensively, Mike Zimmer is expected to keep it basic. The defensive line has had an outstanding camp but most of the attention will be on the secondary has a lot of things up in the air.

The game will also be played with replacement officials after members of the NFL Referees Association were locked out June 3 when talks with the league broke down.

Said left tackle and Bengals player rep Andrew Whitworth about the replacements: “You just hope they’re as good as the other ones. I’m sure they’re not going to be up to the par of the other ones because of the experience but hopefully they’re ready to go.”

NO STANDING PAT: The Bengals have revised their procedures for fans entering Paul Brown Stadium that are in line with most other stadiums throughout the league.

No longer will every person be “patted down.” Instead, all fans will be screened with a magnetic wand that will detect any metal being brought into the stadium. Attendees will need to have their keys, phones and/or other metal items in their hands during the wand screening.

“We’re optimistic that as fans get accustomed to this procedure, it will result in less time in line and smaller crowds at the gate prior to kickoff,” said Bob Bedinghaus, Bengals director of business development. “And as always, we encourage fans to give themselves a little extra time when planning their arrival.”

The wanding procedure was partially implemented during games near the end of the 2011 season.